Tollywood, as the Bengali film industry is also called, has decided to indefinitely suspend the shooting of all films, serials, and OTT series beginning Tuesday, March 7, over safety and security concerns for members. The move follows the untimely demise of actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee. The industry is demanding strict safety protocols, implementation of standard operating procedures, a thorough police investigation, and better insurance/compensation for artists.

Banerjee, 43, drowned while shooting for the television show Bhole Baba Par Karega, near Talsari Beach in Odisha, on March 29. Bhole Baba Par Karega is produced by Magic Moments Motion Pictures, led by Leena Gangopadhyay and Saibal Banerjee.

The decision to suspend shooting was taken at a meeting of the West Bengal Motion Pictures Artists’ Forum and the Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India on Sunday. The meeting was attended by Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, Shantilal Mukhopadhyay, Priyanka Sarkar, and Jissu Sengupta, among others.

“We have only one demand. We want to know the absolute truth behind his accidental demise,” says actor Prosenjit Chatterjee. “We want to know the reality of the circumstances that led to the tragedy. We have issued a 24-hour notice to all producers and channels before we discontinue work indefinitely.”

“The fight is for his (Rahul’s) mother, son, his wife and all his loved ones. The family, along with countless well-wishers and followers of Bengali entertainment the world over, want to know how and what went wrong,” Chatterjee adds.

The strike involves approximately 11,000 technicians and 4,000 actors.

“We have lost an asset of our industry… We need to know the truth, we need to know exactly what happened on the spot,” says actress Rituparna Sengupta. “There was a shot in the sea, at a most dangerous spot, where there was no permission for shooting... There are too many versions which have come out. We have demanded an extensive investigation and explanation from the production house.”

“It is a huge eye-opener for us. The sacrifice of a life has actually opened our eyes to the bigger problem of the safety and security of an artist. An artist becomes absolutely emotionally invested [when he/she is performing]. They don’t even realise the safety ring around them, if there are any,” she adds.

“The federation has been seeking safety and security protocols at the time of shooting for a long time. The artists’ forum has also joined hands now. We have written to channels, individual producers, as well as the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA). We are hopeful of a positive resolution, which will help avoid such incidents in the future,” says Swarup Biswas, president, Federation of Cine Technicians and Workers of Eastern India. “IMPPA has responded positively. We are in talks with them for the last one month.”   

On April 4, several members of the West Bengal Motion Pictures Artists’ Forum, including actors from the Bengali film industry, got together and filed an FIR against the producers of the show. That day, late at night, the deceased actor’s wife, Priyanka Sarkar, also filed a First Information Report (FIR) in Odisha.

On Sunday, April 5, several members of the Bengali film industry, including Srijit Mukherjee, Kaushik Ganguly, Aparna Sen, and Rudranil Ghosh, among others, held a procession from Technicians’ Studio to Radha Studio, carrying placards reading ‘Justice for Rahul’.

Even as the protests intensify, attention is also turning to when the strike might finally come to an end.

“The timeframe [for ending the strike] should come from the production house and channels; people who are responsible for binding the artists, actors and technicians together under one roof. We have given them mandates, and negotiations are on. But till it comes through, till it is signed and sealed, and absolutely formalised, we will wait,” says Sengupta.

Rahul Arunoday Banerjee rose to fame with his role in the 2008 blockbuster Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, also starring Priyanka Sarkar. He then went on to star in films such as Na Hannyate, Byomkesh Phire Elo, Zulfiqar, Rajlokhi O Srikanto and more. He was also a part of several television shows such as Tumi Ashbe Bole, Horogouri Pice Hotel and Desher Maati. He was also an avid theatre personality, a writer, and was known for his popular Bengali podcast, Sohoj Katha.